NASCAR notes: Down to 2

Jimmie Johnson took control of the Chase on Sunday.

Associated Press

By Monte Dutton

Published: Sunday, November 4, 2012 at 11:25 PM.

FORT WORTH, Texas — In case anyone questioned the notion that the Chase for the Sprint Cup was anything other than a battle between Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski, consider the eighth race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Johnson, who now leads the Chase by seven points, finished first. Keselowskifinished second. The two combined to lead 243 out of the 335 (one extra due to overtime) laps. Both have five victories this season.

“It was just an awesome race. At the end, the gloves were off,” Johnson said.

In a race that began with 100 laps of wide-open racing, the final 25 laps saw three caution flags. Keselowskitook the lead by pitting for two tires while Johnson, Kyle Busch and every other contender changed four.

Keselowskiwas unbowed in defeat.

“It’s going to be a dogfight right down to Homestead,” said Keselowski, referring to the season finale. “If we keep running like this, we’ll beat (Johnson).”

Only in Texas —Kevin Harvick’sChevy was a casualty of the pre-race ceremonies.

FORT WORTH, Texas — In case anyone questioned the notion that the Chase for the Sprint Cup was anything other than a battle between Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski, consider the eighth race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Johnson, who now leads the Chase by seven points, finished first. Keselowskifinished second. The two combined to lead 243 out of the 335 (one extra due to overtime) laps. Both have five victories this season.

“It was just an awesome race. At the end, the gloves were off,” Johnson said.

In a race that began with 100 laps of wide-open racing, the final 25 laps saw three caution flags. Keselowskitook the lead by pitting for two tires while Johnson, Kyle Busch and every other contender changed four.

Keselowskiwas unbowed in defeat.

“It’s going to be a dogfight right down to Homestead,” said Keselowski, referring to the season finale. “If we keep running like this, we’ll beat (Johnson).”

Only in Texas —Kevin Harvick’sChevy was a casualty of the pre-race ceremonies.

The No. 29, sitting placidly on pit road, took a hit from a skydiver a few hours before the start. To be specific, it wasn’t the skydiver that crashed into the innocent, bystandingrace car; it was the weight on the skydiver’s sandbag.

The crew rolled the car into the garage, repaired the damage and returned it to the starting grid with time to spare.

Well, after all, TMS president Eddie Gossagedid dub it his “No Limits Wild Asphalt Circus,” which wouldn’t be a bad name for the track.

One race over two —The April 14 race here concluded with 234 laps of green-flag racing. This one began with 100 green-flag laps. In other words, one 500-mile race, 334 laps, transpired without a yellow flag, albeit over two events.

Change of pace —Abruptly the race went from no one slowing down to no one speeding up. Three caution periods occurred in a span of 20 laps: one for debris and two for spins.